How is technology reshaping human relationships? This is the central question explored in Andy Crouch’s latest book: The Life We Are All Looking For. His compelling vision and engaging writing style are able to bring a complex subject such as technology into a comprehensive vision of Christian community. This is in itself no small feat. Sitting within a genre that often limits itself to “do’s” and “don’ts” with the screen, Crouch dives deeper and in that is able to spark a dialogue. With that said, the book also fell short in significant areas leaving me wanting more.
As a content creator at the intersection of faith and technology, I am compelled to respond. Andy Crouch’s book called for more than a review. It called for robust engagement. That is what I’ll attempt to do in two blogs. In this first one, I’ll highlight the many ways in which the book elevated and moved forward the dialogue about technology’s impact on the Christian community. In the second, I’ll address the areas in which one can build on what he started. It will not be a critique per se but an attempt to expand the dialogue.
Before you move forward, let me make it clear: the book is worth your time. It kicks off the conversation within the evangelical community and it may even reach other corners of the Christian household. While reading the book is no requirement to understand the blog, it will certainly help evaluate its content. You might even arrive at different conclusions than I did.
With no further ado, let me dive into the three main gifts this book brings to the Christian community
Of Bikes and Planes
By now, we have all (hopefully) sensed how technology can impair human flourishing. Just consider the sense of guilt and dread after spending countless hours staring at a brainless social media stream accompanied by a royal neck ache from looking down for so long. Yet, other times, we are also thankful for how it expands our abilities. Crouch helps us understand this paradox by comparing planes with bicycles.
Riding a bicycle expands our mobility while still requiring physical effort from us. It reminds me of a blog I wrote a while back reflecting on the spirituality of e-bikes. It certainly helps us get to a destination faster while also being an excellent workout. In this way, the author sees it as a technology that augments rather than detracts from our humanity.
This is a sharp contrast to flying on a plane where the constricted space and oppressive air pressure make the experience much less pleasant. Not only there is no effort in the movement but a clear constriction in our health even if it allows us to reach our destinations much faster. While on board a plane, our humanity is diminished even if only for a few hours.
Superpower and Magic
In doing so, Andy is not advocating we forsake plane rides for bikes. He is only highlighting the point of the trade-offs technologies force us to make. The author shows us that technology often gives us what he describes as superpowers – an ability to do things with little to no effort. Andy also uses allusions to magic and alchemy to describe the dominant ethos of for-profit technology endeavors.
It is like magic because most of us have no clue about how it works. We simply trust that when we press a button, there will be an expected outcome. Oftentimes we expect it to be instantaneous. It is like alchemy because, technology is often portrayed as the silver bullet to all our problems – the recipe for wealth and longevity.
While this affects our physical health in many ways, the author wants to focus on its impact on relationships. This is where, screen technologies more specifically, have done the most damage. As humans, we are wired to be recognized by another face. Often times this crucial exchange of glances is being robbed by a screen or another device that cries for our attention. In short, the dominance of technology in our lives is empoverishing our most cherished relationships. It is even redefining intimacy.
Eloquent Critique of Techno-Capitalism
Chapter 6 dives into the underbelly of techno-capitalism and how it is shaping us into machines. That chapter is worth the book price and then some. Using compelling examples and persuasive arguments, Andy Crouch exposes how a highly transactional society sees no value in those who have little or nothing to transact with. That includes the poor, the aging, the differently-abled, and others who are considered “useless.” Instead, he proposes a society where those with little or nothing to offer should be at the center. That in turn will free us all from our slavery to usefulness.
Throughout the work, Andy delivers strong affirmations of real relationships, forged in the fire of daily living with all its beauty, repetitiveness, and conflict. This vision runs counter to the American dream of financial independence, pointing instead to the messiness of communal interdependence. He advocates for co-housing arrangements with all the inconveniences of personalities rubbing against each other in tight spaces.
In short, he calls us to robust Christian communalism in the midst of a lonely western society. His vision of Christian community, inspired in the New Testament early church, centers on the household. He defines it as small groups that transcend the nuclear family but are still small enough so that everyone is deeply seen and known. Such arrangement goes against the transactional setup of capitalistic societies and alleviates the constant financial struggle to make a living. It is both a spiritual and an economic act of resistance.
Conclusion
Andy Crouch contributes to and expands the dialogue by connecting devices to oppressive economic systems that both diminish human flourishing and propagate a magical view of technology. Through powerful analogies, relatable examples, and fluid writing, he accomplishes all that in a little less than 180 pages.
The review could end here on a positive note but I would be remiss. Unfortunately, Andy Crouch’s assessment of technology had significant gaps that significantly narrowed the scope of the problem. Because of this narrowed scope, his response also fell short by lacking a comprehensive vision to the “how shall we then live?” question. Given the daunting challenges of this technological age, our response and vision of technology must be commensurate with its complexity. This is what I will turn to in the next blog.
